DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (June 4, 2020) - For the sixth year in a row, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2019-20 season, with all 10 sports represented.

Mercy College Athletics will release a Top-10 moment, as chosen by the athletics staff, with a recap every Thursday for the next ten weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2019-20 athletic year being unveiled on Thursday, June 11th.

No. 2 – Women's Soccer Makes Fifth NCAA Tournament Appearance

Coming in at No. 2 in our 2019-20 Top-10 Moments is women's soccer who made their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance.

Mercy entered the 2019 season off a season in which they went 12-3-2 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in program history. The Mavericks were selected to finish second in the East Coast Conference (ECC) Preseason Coaches' Poll and looked to make their seventh straight appearance in the ECC Tournament under first-year Head Coach Danny Leon Jr.

The Mavericks opened up their season on September 6th at Southern New Hampshire. Graduate student RaeAnn Ioannou scored twice but the Penmen came away with a 4-2 win. Two days later, Mercy faced American International and senior Natalia Elizarraras scored twice to lead the Mavericks to a 2-1 win. Following the weekend, Elizarraras was named to the ECC Honor Roll.

On September 11th, Mercy hosted Adelphi in their home opener. Senior Trista Seara scored the game's lone goal in the sixth minute of action off an assist from sophomore Sydney Cooper to lead Mercy to a 1- 0 victory. Junior Melissa Torres made seven saves to post a shutout and Mercy defeated Adelphi for the first time in program history. Seara kept playing the role of hero when she scored the game-winning goal in the 108th minute of double overtime to lead the Mavericks to a road win over Wilmington on September 15th. The win moved Mercy to 3-1 on the year and Torres was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week and Seara was tabbed to the Honor Roll.

Mercy resumed action on September 21st with their ECC opener at home against Queens. Senior Mackenzie Warner scored the game-winning goal in the 69th minute off an assist from Seara to lead the Mavericks to a 1-0 victory in their CODA Awareness Game. Following the win, Torres was named to the ECC Honor Roll.

The Mavericks improved to 5-1 on the year on September 24th when Seara scored twice including the game-winning goal in overtime to lead Mercy to a 2-1 win over Holy Family. Mercy headed to Daemen to conclude the weekend but fell 1-0 to drop to 5-2 on the season. After the week was over, Seara was named to the ECC Honor Roll again.

Mercy rebounded from their loss to Daemen with a 2-0 victory over Molloy on October 5th with Ioannou and junior Kaitlyn Denning both scoring in the game. After the Molloy game, Ioannou was tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll.

The Mavericks got to 7-2 on the year when senior Jess Brandt had a goal and an assist to lead Mercy to a 2-0 victory over New Haven on October 8th. Mercy increased their win streak to three on October 12th when Denning tallied two goals to give the Mavericks a 2-0 win over Southern Connecticut State. Following the two wins, Torres was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week and Denning was tabbed to the Honor Roll. Mercy also began receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 Poll.

Mercy headed back into ECC play and earned a convincing 3-0 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas on October 16th with three different Mavericks scoring in their Making Strides Versus Cancer Game. Mercy extended their win streak to four games and sat at 9-2 overall and 3-1 in ECC play. The Mavericks then headed to New York Tech where they played the Bears to a 1-1 tie on October 19th. After the weekend, Denning was named to the ECC Honor Roll.

The next weekend Mercy played the defending National Champions in Bridgeport and held their own with sophomore Claudia McKail and Elizarraras scoring to lead the Mavericks to a 2-2 tie. After the two ties, Mercy sat at 9-2-2 overall and 3-1-2 in ECC action. McKail, Elizarraras and Torres were all named to the ECC Honor Roll following the Bridgeport game.

Mercy was ranked second in the first NCAA Regional Rankings and faced Le Moyne on October 30th. Freshman Tyra Anderson and Cooper both scored to lead the Mavericks to a 2-0 victory. Mercy reached double digits in wins and moved to 5-0-2 in their last seven games. The Mavericks traveled back to Dobbs Ferry where they hosted Roberts Wesleyan for Senior Day on November 2nd. Brandt and sophomore Anicia Reyes both netted goals to give Mercy a 2-0 win over the Redhawks. The win gave Mercy an 8-0 record at home during the regular season. After the week was over, Cooper was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week.

Following the two wins over Le Moyne and Roberts Wesleyan, Mercy entered the United Soccer Coaches Poll for the first time at No. 24. Mercy was also ranked second in the NCAA Regional Rankings for the second straight week entering their matchup at Goldey-Beacom on November 7th. Cooper scored the game-winning goal in the 6th minute to give Mercy a 1-0 victory over the Lightning. The Mavericks entered their regular season finale with a 12-2-2 record. Mercy dominated Lincoln in their regular season finale, earning an 11-0 win as nine different Mavericks scored to give Mercy the No. 2 seed in the following week's ECC Tournament. After the pair of wins, Cooper was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week for a second time and Reyes and Seara were named to the Honor Roll.

Mercy entered the ECC Tournament with a 13-2-2 overall record and would host No. 3 seed New York Tech in an ECC Championship Semifinal matchup on November 14th.  The Bears scored first in the 40th minute on a penalty kick to take a 1-0 lead. It remained 1-0 at halftime with New York Tech holding an 8-5 edge in shots. The score remained 1-0 in favor of the visitors heading into the 76th minute when Elizarraras fed Seara who finished in the left side of the net to even the score up at 1-1. New York Tech regained the lead in the 82nd minute on a 2v1 goal to take a 2-1 lead. Mercy had quality scoring chances in the 88th and 90th minutes but shot attempts sailed high, leading to the Bears earning the win. The Mavericks would now await a likely NCAA Tournament berth after being ranked second in the NCAA Regional Rankings earlier in the week.

The Mavericks awaited their NCAA fate and on November 18th they would learn that they secured the No. 2 seed in the East Region and would host the First and Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. Mercy would take on No. 7 seed Southern New Hampshire in a First Round matchup on November 22nd at Mercy Field. The two teams played to a scoreless double-overtime tie with Torres making five saves to post a shutout. Penalty kicks would be needed to decide who advanced to the Second Round. The Penmen started the round off with a make and Elizarraras countered with a make of her own. Jordan Butters then converted for the Penmen and Brandt followed with a make to tie the score up at 2-2. Torres then stepped up and stopped an Allyson Patterson attempt before Cooper found the back of the net to put Mercy up 3-2. Torres wasn't done yet as she stopped a Maddie Austin attempt to keep the Mavericks in front. McKail then buried her attempt to give Mercy the penalty kick win. The Mavericks advanced to the Second Round for the second time in three years and would face ECC foe Molloy in the Second Round at Mercy Field on November 24th.

The Mavericks broke through with the game's first goal in the 8th minute when Elizarraras scored off a corner kick to give Mercy an early 1-0 lead. The score remained 1-0 heading into halftime with Torres making three saves in the half. The second half saw Molloy score in the 47th minute to tie the game up at 1-1. The score remained tied at 1-1 after regulation and after two overtime periods so penalty kicks would be needed to decide who advances. The Lions opened the shootout with a make and McKail followed with a make to make it 1-1. After a miss from both teams, Lexi Verni found the back of the net for the Lions to bring the score to 2-1. After another Mercy miss, Sabrina Bell connected and gave Molloy a 3-1 lead. The Mavericks last attempt went wide sending the Lions to the third round. Mercy ended their season at 13-3-4 and made the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year and ECC Tournament for the seventh consecutive year. Mercy went on to receive votes in the final United Soccer Coaches Poll.

The awards poured in for the Mavericks after a successful year as Torres was named the ECC Goalkeeper of the Year and First Team All-ECC. Sophomore Fernanda Castro, Cooper, Elizarraras and Seara were tabbed First Team All-ECC and Denning was named Second Team All-ECC. Seara was also named CoSIDA Academic All-District and was named the athletic department's Female Athletic Director's Excellence in Athletics Award recipient. Seara, Cooper and Elizarraras were also named D2CCA All-Region selections and Seara, Castro, Torres, Elizarraras and Cooper took home All-Region accolades from the United Soccer Coaches. Cooper was also named the Co-Female Sophomore of the Year at the athletic department's year-end awards ceremony and Elizarraras earned the team's Maverick Award.

The 2019 season proved to be a successful one for the Mavericks and they will look to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for a fourth straight year in 2020.  

Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2019-20 Season

Every Thursday for the next ten weeks, the Mercy College Athletics Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Thursday, April 9th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Thursday, June 11th.

No. 1 – June 11th

No. 2 – June 4th

No. 3 – Volleyball Makes First ECC Tournament Appearance Since 2008

No. 4 – Women's Basketball Doubles Win Total Over 2018-19 Season

No. 5 – Bryan Griffin Sets Multiple School Records Throughout Season

No. 6 – Field Hockey Defeats 2018 Final Four Participant Pace

No. 7 – Men's Lacrosse Defeats No. 7 Pace

No. 8 – Women's Lacrosse Defeats No. 18 Bentley in Final Seconds on the Road

No. 9 – Softball Gets Off to Best Four-Game Start Since 2017

No. 10 – John Mooradian, Miguel Ortiz Sanchez and Anthony Murphy Reach Career Milestones and Move up in Baseball Record Book